AustLit logo

AustLit

Virgilio Goncalves Virgilio Goncalves i(14726310 works by)
Gender: Male
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 y separately published work icon Of Grandpas and Grandkids Virgilio Goncalves , Port Adelaide : Picaro Press , 2023 27205057 2023 selected work poetry
1 y separately published work icon As Clear as Modder Virgilio Goncalves , Port Adelaide : Ginninderra Press , 2022 24896267 2022 selected work poetry 'Virgilio Goncalves has worked out, finally, why he has a nomadic bent. It’s because a lot of the time he’s seeking the tribe that truly typifies him. Is he South African, Australian or Portuguese? Place has loomed like a restless shadow in his life. But, which of the three countries, to which he has ties, is the one most a part of him? This collection looks at poems written in, or about, the three lands which tug at his heartstrings for captaincy status in his multicultural life. He also comes to the realisation that, despite this agitation about Place, he considers himself fortunate.' (Publication summary)
1 y separately published work icon Quick as a Wink Virgilio Goncalves , Port Adelaide : Ginninderra Press , 2020 19796328 2020 selected work short story 'If characters make a story, this book has a deluge of them. The stories are deliberately brief so as not to stretch the time-keeping skills of busy, modern society. However, readers will find, within most stories, characters they identify with, either in vexed or, more usually, pleasant ways. Human characters include chefs, grans, gossips, siblings, entrepreneurs; possibly a queen makes a dubious appearance. Children feature in naïve yet wise ways, and deservedly bookend the collection. Animals (characters also, as we know) invite you into their worlds, including a ladybird, a pelican, an anti-hero bee, and eccentric turkeys. Objects, too, such as a Buddhist statue and a gnome are, in a twinkle, brought to life. Delicately, rather than by blows to skulls, themes of abuse, abortion and ageing weave through some of the stories. The desolation of broken families and the devastation of war are implicitly exposed. Ultimately, sizeable serving spoons of humour, brazen or subtle, are the keys to many tales. This, too, is deliberate: readers need to be cheered, mostly, by the unsuspecting characters who inhabit our world.' (Publication summary)
1 Stain i "As I gaze upon the ancient city,", Virgilio Goncalves , 2020 single work poetry
— Appears in: I Protest! Poems of Dissent 2020; (p. 116)
1 Mandela on Its Mind i "From up high", Virgilio Goncalves , 2019 single work poetry
— Appears in: Mountain Secrets 2019; (p. 32)
1 y separately published work icon Stings in Tails Virgilio Goncalves , Port Adelaide : Ginninderra Press , 2018 14726361 2018 selected work poetry

'Virgilio Goncalves has a nomadic bent. He blames his parents. Both Portuguese, they migrated to South Africa, where Virgilio was born. Thirty years ago, he and his family emigrated to Australia. He lives with his wife, Lesley, in Aldinga Beach. Their two sons, Kyle and Ross, also live in South Australia. Virgilio has worked as a journalist, lecturer, ESL teacher and, more recently, as a tennis coach. Now he fiddles with words - just for the love of it. He has self-published three books, including two novels. He also writes short stories and is a member of the Ochre Coast Poets group. This is his first book of poetry. Virgilio, as with other fellow nomads, will forever be restless. That’s because his goal in life is to rid the world of misery.' (Publication summary)

X